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1500 questions
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pronunciation of 人 - regional or gender differences?
To my English tuned ear, these audio files of people pronouncing 人 sound very different.
My colleague (a native Mandarin speaker) insists they are the same sound, and thinks I am just confused because one speaker has a higher pitched voice. He said…
compound eye
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留学: Why the use of "留"?
I'm sure like many students of Chinese, my first encounter with the character 留 was in the word 留学, meaning "to study abroad".
Some time later I encountered 留 as an independent word, meaning "to stay". Most of the compounds with 留 are consistent…
Stumpy Joe Pete
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What is the difference between 阅读, 读, and 看?
What is the difference between the three read verbs, 阅读，读，and 看? A casual googling gets you some explanations but as I still can't get it correctly and it has not been posted here, I wish someone could clarify it.
I understand the difference of the…
Blaszard
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What does "被续了" mean?
我想这个穿着红色衣服的男孩已经被续了。
In this sentence, the word "续" means life-prolonging, and when people say this they usually mean that someone was being life-prolonged to somebody instead of someone was being life-prolonged by somebody. Why?
skygate
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7
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Should Pinyin be written as it is (collectively) pronounced or in terms of the individual syllables?
As in the title, should something like 不对 be written as bù duì (as in the individual characters) or as bú duì (the way it's actually spoken)?
I know that my teacher writes e.g. 你好 as nǐ hǎo (i.e. despite the ní hǎo pronunciation). Google Translate…
J Redford
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Meaning of 一人付一半 in 车费我们俩一人付一半，怎么样？
In this sentence:
车费我们俩一人付一半，怎么样？
I don't fully understand the meaning of 一人付一半.
I have found that 付一半 can mean "pay half", but 一人 confuses me (if it refers to one person, why is that form used instead of 一个人?).
dusan
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How do you say "I'll be a little late"?
I've learned that 来不及 means that I can't make something at a specific time. I've most often seen it used in the sense that "I can't make the appointment at all". How do you indicate to someone that you won't be able to make the appointment at the…
Son of the Wai-Pan
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4 answers
Why is Sherlock Holmes translated as "福尔摩斯" (Fuermosi)?
The last name of the detective Sherlock Holmes is translated as "福尔摩斯"(Fuermosi) in Chinese, which seems to be strange, since the Chinese pronunciation is nowhere close to the English one, beginning with the "F" sound instead of the "H" sound. Since…
March Ho
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Why don't Cantonese speakers write their own language?
For me the most difficult thing about learning Cantonese has been that there are very few learning materials for foreigners (and I assume even for Chinese people). And even the materials that exist are all only regarding basic conversational topics.…
oceanus
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7
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4 answers
Where can I find Codecademy for Written Chinese?
Recently, my wife has been learning to program JavaScript using Codecademy. I like how it walks people through exercises step by step, and builds up concepts, etc. All the marking is automated, and there are hints available so you never get stuck.…
timginn
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Written Cantonese Pronunciation
I recently attended a Cantonese reading class in Hong Kong and discovered that pronunciation of the spoken form of written Cantonese can be very different from normal speech.
The teacher was not able to provide an reasonable explanation as why this…
mfc
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2 answers
When to use 手 and when to use 家 for a type of musician or other specialist
Is it true that 家("jia")denotes perhaps greater competence or prestige, while 手(“手”) is a slightly less professional specialist? How can one know when to use one rather than the other?
Examples:
乐手-yuè shǒu instrumental performer
歌手-gē shǒu …
寻实猴
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7
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Why the popular name for Pandas 熊猫 consists of its words in inverse order 猫熊?
According to Pleco dictionary the popular name for Pandas is 熊猫, while the "original" name is 猫熊.
Its characters meaning order change from:
popular: bear cat
original: cat bear
marcanuy
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Do people in China say 新年快乐 at Spring Festival?
The questions Is there a traditional Chinese New Year greeting? and Which expression do native speakers actually use: Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (or other)? describe various greetings for this time of year. But they do not specifically…
Colin McLarty
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Why is 景 written "wrong" on the Nestorian Stele?
I noticed that 景 is written on the Tang-era Nestorian Stele with the "boxes" switched, ie. the 口 is above and 日 is below. Would this be a standard way to write the character during that time, or is it an intentional variation?
scry
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